BENGALURU: Microsoft is chasing a deal to buy all of TikTok’s global business, including the viral video app’s operations in India and Europe, newspaper Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing sources.

Microsoft on Sunday had said it was in negotiations with ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, to explore a purchase of the TikTok service in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

But, Financial Times, reported that Microsoft has since also pursued a plan that would include all countries where TikTok operates. TikTok does not operate in China, and such a deal would not extend to its China-facing sister app Douyin, the newspaper added.

India is TikTok’s biggest market, with more than 650 million downloads according to Sensor Tower data. But it has been banned in India since the end of June, when the government put it on a blacklist of 59 Chinese mobile apps, citing a threat to national security.

The newspaper reported that a purchase by Microsoft may help restore its fortunes by removing the stigma of Chinese ownership at a time when anti-China sentiment has been inflamed by a deadly clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers in the Himalayas earlier this year.

Financial Times reported that there was a “deal in the works” with Microsoft for TikTok India but that if it fell through, ByteDance could sell TikTok India either to foreign investors or Indian buyers. ByteDance would then license its technology to the company and share revenue, it added.

Email sent to TikTok and Microsoft did not elicit a response.